Get It Out!!!

YOWZA! (as Lauren would say) That's one huge belly!

Ok, I'm writing in the midst of feeling very strong emotions, so this might not be the happiest post I've ever done.

So, where to start.... I guess with yesterday. I had a pedicure at the Riverstone Spa which was wonderful! My mom and sister had given me a gift certificate for Christmas, and I was saving it (I have really calloused feet and wanted a pedicure for giving labour since the nurses hold your feet). I even ordered a chicken salad wrap and sipped iced tea. The whole experience was so relaxing and simply splendid! (I loved the colour of the nail polish so much I ordered a bottle) Now, I bet you're thinking, what's negative about that? Well this is where it begins. When I sit for long periods of time, I feel ok.....until I have to stand up...

Getting out of that leather, heated, massaging chair was not a pretty sight! It must have taken a good minute just to climb out. Well after that, I was a write-off for the night. We also went out for dinner (more sitting), and spent a lot of time in the car, driving across town from my parent's house (sitting). I really just wanted to go to bed, so I did at around 9:30....well by 1:30 I was WIDE awake, had had 2 baths, taken Gravol, and was dealing with major heartburn, nevermind the pain in my butt, legs, and abdomen! I was sure I was going to wake up in labour last night because of the cramping and pain in my abdomen. But here I am the next night, with empty arms (but still with a sore butt and heartburn)

The word I'd use to describe me right now would be aggitated....I have very little patience, even with Ethan, and my tolerance for handling situations in general is just bad. I think the hormones and the lack of sleep both are factors contributing to that. I JUST WANT THIS BABY OUT!! I don't want to be pregnant anymore and I don't want to be pregnant again!!! So now that I've vented, I'm going to TRY to go to sleep....

Preggo shots!

Ok, these pictures are somewhat embarrassing thanks to stretch marks and a popping belly button...but I figure that's just the way it is when you're pregnant! Why hide it? (although I'm not posting these pictures on Facebook) At least with the blog, only a few people check it, not three hundred and something!

I took these pictures last night because as I was getting ready for bed, I glanced at my profile in the mirror and thought "HOLY CRAP! My belly sticks out REALLY far!!" So I decided to take some pics. Hope you enjoy :o)

A Teeny Little Baby

Here are some newborn pictures of Ethan, just for memory's sake :o)

Tonight I went through Ethan's baby clothes and pulled out all the newborn sleepers, onesies, socks, and mitties (to those of you who are trying to read into that, they're all gender neutral). I can't really describe the feelings going through me as I picked up the TINY clothes. The sleepers are actually smaller than the T-shirts Ethan wears right now, and they'll cover the baby's whole body, not just the torso! I can't believe Ethan used to be that little! But instead of that making me sad, it made me excited that I'm ACTUALLY going to have another little baby! Sometimes I wonder if that reality has actually sunk in since Ethan takes up so much of my time, effort, and thoughts. I haven't spent a lot of time "dreaming" about having a new baby like I did when I was pregnant with Ethan.

However, as I looked at each item of clothing tonight, I was filled with delight and excitement for meeting this precious little baby within me. I started wondering about things like how much hair it will have and what colour it will be, will this baby be a big chub like Ethan was, or will it be a slight baby that can actually wear clothes more than once before growing out of them :o) Am I going to know what it's like to have a strong-willed, feisty baby, or will I be amazed that there's such thing as a more easygoing baby than Ethan? (and if you're even thinking about saying the next one will be a "terror" like so many people like to say, just keep your mouth shut because that just makes me angry, and I might write a whole rant about not "cursing" my child....)

I'm really hoping to go into labour early, and am planning on actively trying to induce natural labour sometime this next week. My doula gave me a list of ways to do that, so we'll see if they actually work. I know how painful labour is, yet I WANT to be in it, how weird is that?? Now talking about labour brings up something else I've been thinking about lately; epidural or no epidural? I had a VERY long labour with Ethan (approx. 3 days) and finally got one for the last 3 hours. Wow, I must say, I really loved having it....but I was lucky not to have any of the negative side effects.

I was talking to Chris about it, and I said "I don't think I'll need one for this labour." Before I could even finish my sentence, he quickly responded "you should get one." LOL! I was like "Why? Contractions are no problem, I can handle them." Well he seems to think my memory is somewhat skewed, and he remembers it the way it actually was, and it was MUCH better after the epidural. So, do I feel the need to be a hero and bare through labour so I can say I did it naturally? No, I feel proud that I did 3 days of intense labour, even though I had an epidural in the end, and I don't think my worth comes from giving birth without pain medication. So there's a pretty good chance I'll get the epidural, but there's a chance I won't. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. All of that is minor, compared to the fact that sometime within the next month (hopefully 2 weeks), I get to meet this precious baby who causes me so much heartburn :o)

What a Bad Blogger I am!!!

Ok, once again I've been getting heck from people for not updating my blog. My life has been very busy, I haven't even been checking my friend's blogs! Man, if my life is this busy before having a baby, I can't imagine what it will be like afterwards!

(Joanna was an amazing worker, here she is cleaning

out the fridge at our old house)

Londa was also amazing, I couldn't believe how hard these girls worked!

So where do I begin? As most of you probably know, we recently moved to Winnipeg from our home in Steinbach *sniff, sniff.* It's been bittersweet because our house was SO small (727 sq. ft. plus a finished basement), and we really needed the space but it was also Ethan's first home. There are so many memories from that home: it was the first home we bought, planning and decorating the nursery, all of Ethan's firsts, being able to make all decorating choices and making the house our own, and just all the great family memories overall. I really will miss living in Steinbach, it's a great town, and I have a lot of friends there. Now, I know the drive to Winnipeg is only 30 minutes away, but with Chris' job, I VERY RARELY get to use the car because he's on-call and needs to be able to get to work quickly. It is very frustrating, and I'm definitely looking forward to the day when we have another vehicle. (I love being a stay at home mom, but after 3 days of being home alone with a child, I go a little stir crazy and really feel like I need to get out and have adult contact!)

Here's my family, working hard :p

Grandpa Jim walking Ethan into the new house!

So now for the new house. It's awesome, really awesome! For the first couple weeks, I must have told Chris at least once a day how much I love living here. It's amazing how much a house can affect a person's overall feeling of happiness (for me at least). I think that having space has a big part to play in that, because I don't feel like I'm living in clutter and disorganization. It's also awesome for Ethan because he has free reign of the house. We have the basement as his playroom, so he ofter hangs out down there, but he can also play upstairs or the main floor. He REALLY loves it that he doesn't have to be blocked off from stairs and can climb them freely, and although it was kind of tense at first, it's been fun to watch him gain confidence in that new-found skill. Another thing I love about this house is that it feels new. I don't know when it was all renovated, but it was for sure within the last 5 years. And lastly, I LOVE the backyard! It's SO great to have it fenced so Ethan can go in and out at his leisure (yes he can open the door himself!!) and I don't have to worry about him running into traffic. I'll post some pictures soon of how it looks with our furniture in it (since you've already seen the pictures we took before we moved in).

Boy or Girl??

So the last thing to update is our baby situation. A few weeks ago, the doctor thought the baby was a little too big for the amount of weeks I was, so he sent me for a fetal assessment (much to my delight). I knew there would be nothing wrong with the baby, I just carry big (which was the result), but it meant that we got to find out the gender of the baby!! Now you might be getting excited too, but don't get your hopes up too soon, we're keeping it a secret! :o) I've really enjoyed knowing the gender because we can paint the nursery a gender-specific colour, and we don't have to worry about picking names from both genders. The other reason I like knowing is because I now think of the baby as that gender, it's like it has more of an identity.
Now, as for being pregnant, those of you who know me, know that I don't really enjoy being pregnant. My biggest issue this round has been the lack of sleep. For some reason unbeknownst to me, I have a really hard time sleeping while pregnant, and it's now at the point where I wake up every hour all night. I've just accepted it though, and no longer let it bother me. I will get sleep eventually - I just dont' know when :o) Another way this pregnancy is different is that I get braxton hicks contractions A LOT! There have already been points where I wonder if I'm in early labour because they come fairly consistently. I'm hoping that means the baby will come early, and am planning on doing every trick in the book to induce labour, starting next week (because It will be 2 weeks until the due date).

Wow, as I'm writing, I'm thinking of SO many more things to write about, so I'll have to get blogging again. I'll write another post tomorrow to let you all know how Ethan's adjusting to all the change and the dilemmas I'm having with parenting a toddler :o)